Singapore Expats

Dear All,

I'm probably (or at least really hoping that I am!) over-reacting here, but I've just been accepted by a school in SG as a Creative Writing & Drama teacher. Great. I've sent off all my forms and they've been accepted by the school and sent on.
However I wasn't aware that all teachers had to be pre-approved by the MOE and here's my dilemma - I applied for the foreign teacher training programme with the MOE last year and was unsuccessful, therefore does this mean that my approval is likely to be rejected?!

I'm also concerned about my qualifications - I have a Masters in Anthropology/Archaeology from Australia but NO BA! I did my first two years of an undergraduate then was accepted in the fast stream onto my MA based on my grades and excavation/research experience. Will this count against me in the eyes of MOE? I've been told they're real sticklers for certificates!

I've had one year of teaching experience at a high school in Egypt, acted as a Course creator and Education Officer at University, plus tutored Undergraduate students in Archaeology - will the MOE take this into consideration or is it just the relevance of the qualifications?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks

Hi Just saw your post. My wife has a somewhat similar situation - she has a BEd and a M.SC from India. She has no work experience in India or Aus as we lived in Aus before moving here. She applied to the MOE for registration as a teacher but was rejected - no explanation provided. We had submitted all certificates.

We are now reapplying and hoping for the best. We have found it hard to get any feedback from MoE.

JS

Digger wrote:Dear All,

I'm probably (or at least really hoping that I am!) over-reacting here, but I've just been accepted by a school in SG as a Creative Writing & Drama teacher. Great. I've sent off all my forms and they've been accepted by the school and sent on.
However I wasn't aware that all teachers had to be pre-approved by the MOE and here's my dilemma - I applied for the foreign teacher training programme with the MOE last year and was unsuccessful, therefore does this mean that my approval is likely to be rejected?!

I'm also concerned about my qualifications - I have a Masters in Anthropology/Archaeology from Australia but NO BA! I did my first two years of an undergraduate then was accepted in the fast stream onto my MA based on my grades and excavation/research experience. Will this count against me in the eyes of MOE? I've been told they're real sticklers for certificates!

I've had one year of teaching experience at a high school in Egypt, acted as a Course creator and Education Officer at University, plus tutored Undergraduate students in Archaeology - will the MOE take this into consideration or is it just the relevance of the qualifications?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks

It's highly unlikely that a school would offer you a position and not be aware of your likelihood of getting MOE registration. Your whole "package" is definately looked at, and if it shows on you transcript that you used an express stream for your studies, (I assume that your grades were pretty good then) I imagine that this will be viewed in a positive light. Academic achievement is a very big deal here.

Their own teacher training programme is a scholarship programme, and therefore a different matter altogether.

JS wrote:Hi Just saw your post. My wife has a somewhat similar situation - she has a BEd and a M.SC from India. She has no work experience in India or Aus as we lived in Aus before moving here. She applied to the MOE for registration as a teacher but was rejected - no explanation provided. We had submitted all certificates.

We are now reapplying and hoping for the best. We have found it hard to get any feedback from MoE.

As a foreigner you apply for registration with the MOE when you have been offered a teaching job. The company really applies on your behalf. If your wife has tried to apply independently, this might have been the reason for her rejection as she was applying for something that she technically did not yet have the first part of...

If however, I have read this incorrectly and she already had the job offer, her company should ask for a reason on her behalf.

Whe registration is approved, she is only allowed to teach at the school she has been registered for (and should she change jobs, she needs to seek approval again).